This could be the dumbest, most ridiculous woke move ever … Sarah Paulson is getting dragged for wearing a fat suit portraying Linda Tripp in “Impeachment: American Crime Story,” because some critics think the role should have gone to someone with Tripp’s body shape.
Yes, there are people who think an actor of Linda Tripp’s size was denied a role that rightly should have gone to her.
In the late ’90s, Linda Tripp became one of the most hated women in America and lived on in infamy as the worst friend ever.
It turns out that Sarah Paulson’s performance might not prompt all viewers to reconsider their judgments of Tripp. https://t.co/OZGjouDy25
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) August 26, 2021
@latimes
Now, this is not to say it’s not legit to debate actors wearing fat suits. But, is it essential to the role? As Sarah says, “There’s a lot of controversy around actors and fat suits, and I think that controversy is a legitimate one. I think fat phobia is real. I think to pretend otherwise causes further harm. And it is a very important conversation to be had.”
But, saying size matters in casting a role … that’s another thing altogether. What about actors who use prosthetics? What about a blonde actor who plays a redhead? Or an actor who gains or loses a lot of weight for a role … a la Christian Bale or any other method actor???
Sarah brilliantly shut down the haters … “I do think to imagine that the only thing any actor called upon to play this part would have to offer is their physical self is a real reduction of the offering the actor has to make.”
She goes on … “I would like to believe that there is something in my being that makes me right to play this part. And that the magic of hair and makeup departments and costumers and cinematographers that has been part of moviemaking, and suspension of belief, since the invention of cinema. Was I supposed to say no[to the role].”
Sarah was vague at the end, saying now that she knows what she knows, she would respond differently if offered the Linda Trip part. She says, “I think the thing I think about most is that I regret not thinking about it more fully … Should I have known? Absolutely f***ing-lutely. But I do now. And I wouldn’t make the same choice going forward.”
She could be talking about 1 of 2 things … either not taking the role at all, or not wearing a fat suit. We’re guessing she means the latter.